Plays well with others, understanding and working with dog on dog aggressive behavior

Plays well with others, understanding and working with dog on dog aggressive behavior, copyright 2017 Frania Shelley-Grielen all rights reserved﻿﻿﻿

Dog owners want their dogs to get along well with other dogs but what about the times when we worry that our dog gets a little bonkers when they see another dog, is not playing so nicely or that the other dogs are being a little too rough? Or are they? Is it possible that a hard stare, growling, snarling, snapping or more at another dog in the dog park or on the street is OK? How do we tell the difference from dog warnings, threats and impending danger? What should we be doing to make sure everyone gets along? And what do we do when they don’t? To understand and work with aggression in dogs towards other dogs we first need to recognize that what we are often seeing are effective communication strategies for dogs to increase distance or decrease another’s behavior and not aggression. For example, a dog growling at another dog who is eyeing a favorite toy, a dog growling at another dog who has him pinned to the ground and a dog biting another dog’s flank and breaking skin, all have different motivations with the first being a warning, the second of a threat and the third aggression.

Once we learn the content (or what they are “saying”) in dog on dog adversarial communications we can determine whether or not we should step in or let the canines work it out on their own. To begin, we need to be able to tell the difference between warnings, threats and aggression. We tend to overuse “aggression,” especially when talking about animals, to the point where the word has become a catchall for every behavior we may think is negative or are not comfortable with. This sort of thinking can lead owners to over react as a result.

The most widely accepted definition of “aggression” is action with intent to cause harm with “violence” being a form of aggression where the intended harm is severe or fatal. When it comes to human beings, we can further define aggressive behavior into “physical aggression” or “verbal aggression.” For all animals, threats and warnings are not aggression as they actually serve to prevent action intended to cause harm from happening if they are communicated effectively, that is “heard” and responded to. How we parse out our own warnings, threats and aggressive behaviors for humans comes from research and from our own direct understanding of human behavior as humans. With animals, who experience the world in different ways than our own we have no direct experience to draw from and have to rely more on careful observations of both behavior, context and studied conclusions of what those behaviors most probably mean. In a conflict scenario where dogs are involved, we can more effectively describe behaviors in these situations as “agonistic behaviors” which removes the motivation from either the actor or recipient in a struggle. Animal behavior experts, Camille Ward and Barbara Smuts do an excellent job in the following depiction of agonistic behaviors, possible motivations and contexts as follows:

“Examples of agonistic behaviors in dogs include threats like muzzle-puckering and growling; submissive behaviors like crouching, lowering the head and tucking the tail; offensive behaviors like lunging and snapping; defensive behaviors like retracting the commissure (lips) while showing the teeth; and attacking behaviors like biting. With the exception of biting that results in punctures or tears, none of these behaviors necessarily indicates intent to do harm. They simply reveal emotion (e.g., anger or fear), communicate intention (e.g., to maintain control of a resource or to avoid an interaction) or function as a normal part of play fighting (e.g., growling, snapping or inhibited biting). To determine if an interaction meets the criteria for “agonistic behavior,” an observer must focus on an objective description of the communicative patterns displayed rather than automatically jumping to judgments associated with the use of the term “aggression.”

If signals such as bared teeth and growling are not typically preludes to fighting, why do they exist? Paradoxically, such behaviors are usually about how to avoid fighting.”

A perhaps more useful way to look at animal behaviors is in the context they occur in (what is happening and where it is happening) as “distance increasing behaviors” or “distance reducing behaviors.” In other words, what is the desired effect being communicated? The dog that is squared off, feet firmly planted, lip raised and snarling is asking for increased distance from whatever it is in the environment that is threatening, while the dog that initiates a play bow towards another is asking for reduced distance (and more interaction). Looking at the behaviors this way allows for the request, whether of more or less distance by a change in the environment to be addressed. So, if the squared off dog is asking for space from the person or dog approaching than the person or dog can back off and if the play bow is seen play can begin if the other dog agrees. All animals have in common the desire to avoid conflict and the ability to accomplish that through communication. Physical fights are biologically costly for any species. Injury impacts the ability to gather food, interact with others and when extreme can be fatal. To avoid actual fighting animals have developed highly ritualized bluffs and threat displays, which means they look the same and follow the same pattern no matter which individual in the species performs them. That squared off dog, whether Bassett Hound or Basenji assumes a warning posture with the same rigid body tension, weight forward on both front legs signaling intent to move forward if they have to.

Dogs communicate with each other through vocalizations such as barking, growling, snarling, etc., visually through body postures such as play bows, raised hackles, avoidance, etc. or through scents actively exchanged as in butt sniffing or odors left behind through urine or feces. While much of how dogs communicate with each other is lost on us as humans (who will never be able to hear or smell as well or fully understand the significance of those abilities to a canine) we can become more comfortable with understanding how dogs correspond to disagree, agree to disagree and resolve conflicts. To do this we have to first work on observing dogs, all dogs, in different contexts; dogs at play, on walks, behind fences, tied outside the grocery store, asleep, sitting for attention, and so on and so on. Starting with our own dogs we need to look at what our dogs look like when they are happy, sad, excited, etc. What does their face and body look like? Being careful not to focus on only one aspect such as lips or eyes or ears but looking at the whole dog. How does the appearance of the dog change and in response to what? Learning to read dog body language begins with learning about the natural behavior of dogs along with paying attention to what is happening around the dog as much as what the dog is “saying” in response to it. There are many excellent sources to learn about dog communication and behavior as long as the source is a credible one, keep to experts who have formal backgrounds –have studied the material at a university or graduate level and who are focused on welfare and science. Videos are particularly useful as they can outline concepts and show what they look like at the same time, a good example of what play looks like is this one from our site and a nice example on canine body language is this one from Maddie’s Institute

Because dogs are a highly domesticated species through convergence in history with humans their story cannot be told without looking at their wild canine ancestors. Our modern dog’s ancestors were those canines able to get close enough to scavenge from, hunt with or become companions to humans. This key point in learning about how dogs came to be dogs is to understand that much of dog behavior is in response to human behavior and how that translates to what we influence when they are living in our homes, walking by our sides or at the dog park with us. Not only are dogs living with humans dependent on humans for pretty much everything they get to do including who they get to socialize with dog or people wise, whether or not they have been taught how to act appropriately around dogs or people, if that training created good positive association or was painful, and whether or not they get to work out conflicts and potential conflicts on their own. As veterinary behaviorist, Petra A. Mertens writes: “Free ranging dogs can avoid conflict more successfully through avoidance of encounters with other dogs, making fights less common. Space restrictions and the influence of caregivers’ attempts to control the behavior of the dogs may catalyze problems and prevent resolution using ritualized behavioral patterns.”

Our discussion of dog behavior with other dogs here is really about dogs behaving with other dogs around people, in fact, most studies in working with dog on dog “aggression” are primarily focused on humans redirecting the dog while the dog is attached to the human with a leash or an aversive device such as a head halter. These studies are really reflective of how well the human teaches the dog what to do in their presence. Interestingly enough, the same studies often find that without the human present or ongoing training, the dog reverts back to whatever the behavior was in the first place. Studies on dog freely interacting with other dogs’ show that while dogs may “argue” with a full suite of distance increasing behaviors, threat displays or warning signs, dogs mostly do not attack each other:

- In a paper on dominance and aggression in multi-dog homes, Petra Mertens noted that: “fights between cohabitating dogs represent between 5% and 18% of the overall caseload of veterinary behaviorists.” Most of the fights being about proximity to food or toys 48%, proximity to caretaker 43% defense of a preferred resting space 23%. (Mertens says if this is about resources letting the dog with the most resource guarding potential have access to same when calm is most effective in defusing future fights. This is in effect giving them what they are the most worried about not having which lessens stress which creates a calmer dog.)

-A 2016 study looking at multiple dogs and their interactions with other dogs in a doggy day care and in the home found that about half of the dog pairs observed at a doggy day care never interacted aside from mutual sniffing. New dogs were introduced into the environment on an ongoing basis and the study concluded: “In these circumstances, establishing a relationship with every dog and negotiating dominance would require a lot of time, energy and social cognition. The ability to completely ignore a social partner who is in close quarters is probably another alternative strategy that dogs use to avoid conflict, and may have become more adaptive as the social environments of dogs changed from that of their wolf ancestors”.

It is important to point out that those studies done in dog parks, doggy day cares and in homes with multiple dogs are most probably looking at dogs that are fairly well socialized and already play well with others. These sites are often a filter and rambunctious dogs are often not present at all. Owners, knowing their pets, will often only bring dogs that behave appropriately already to these environments, rules are often posted or enforced restricting the presence of dogs that are prone to not interact well and often preventing the presence of intact males or females in heat.

So having said all this, how and when do we know when too much is too much with dog on dog behavior? As much as this may be equal parts informed intuition, a good grasp of dog body language and experience it can still be a tricky determination. Here are a few tips to help:

Never forget who the responsible party is on the other end of the leash- you. Think through possible scenarios and solutions ahead of time by reading and researching. Remaining calm to provide affiliation and social support for your dog is the most important thing to remember and know how to do. Whether it is taking a deep breath, reciting a soothing affirmation or whatever you need to do to keep your presence neutral is vital. A tense handler makes for a tense dog. Our dogs are experts at reading our body language and sensing stress induced chemical changes (we smell different when we are nervous). It is highly likely that your dog senses your stress before you even realize you are experiencing it.

Survey the situation first, let them know what you think, ask, decide and then act. Look ahead on your walk for approaching dogs or situations that you know rile the dogs. Do not wait until you are interacting with it, set you and your dog up for success. Cue your dog in advance with asking for the kind of behavior you want and reinforce - "Doodle, easy. Good Easy Doodle! Good Easy!, Good Easy!, (etc.)" Keep the dog engaged and keep reinforcing until you are past.

We know that a loose, wiggly body on another dog is a good thing and even better if the dog is of the opposite sex than the one we are with for interaction. Look at who is coming toward you on a walk, looks good? Ask the other handler if the dog is friendly/ wants to say hi and what sex- cross gender is always the safest bet, then let them do it. There is nothing more frustrating to a dog than being held just close enough to sniff another but not close enough. If your dog is straining at the leash with two feet off the ground you are creating and feeding frustration.

It is good to know that you can walk in another direction, cross the street and stand between two parked cars to avoid a situation. It is even better to learn how to calmly deal with one. Know that your body can always be used as a buffer against the environment and provide a safe zone by putting you between the hazard, dog or person. Shorten the leash so your dog is closer to your side by running the hand that is not holding the leash down the leash and against your body, this will put your dog closer to you without pulling on the dog. Once you put yourself between the oncoming dog and your dog, both dogs will breathe a sigh of relief.

Lean the art of the neutral introduction: Having company over and that includes their dog? Meet your guests with your dog on the corner and walk together to your home. Dogs do not equate territory with just your house or apartment, the street and sidewalk are part of what “belongs.” Meeting on neutral ground and going to your home together removes the “intruder” tension. Bringing treats with you to reinforce the neutral behavior for all dogs never hurts –make sure to have each owner treat their own dog. Allow for butt sniffing, particularly as walking, this sort of linear introduction is highly effective for familiarizing dogs without pressure.

Master entrances and exits that disperse energy: When entering the dog park with a dog make sure the dog is unleashed between the double fences before entering to guarantee an even playing field where all dogs can move around freely. Move directly to the middle of the space as soon as you enter, your dog and the dogs in the park will follow. Most squabbles in dog parks occur at the fenced entrances where entering dogs attract the attention of the dogs in the park. Multiple dogs lining up at a fence creates a confined space where excited bids for attention and exploration are easily intensified. Walking immediately to the center of the park allows for a full use of the space to both explore and retreat. Keep talking to a minimum to allow the dogs to interact with each other and not focus on you. Make sure to keep your hands at your sides, raised hands invites jumping and avoid direct eye contact with any dog. For exits and entrances from your home, be first so that you can see what is coming up ahead and cue your dog accordingly.

Remember separate by size and play style: wisdom for most, if not all dog parings. Dog parks often have two play areas, one for small dogs and one for large dogs, in a scenario with a small dog that plays too intensely for his same size companions try the big dog park on for size.

Become comfortable with asking your dog to return to you (“recall”). Get your dog comfortable with this by training them to answer to your recall request, offering them a treat as a reward and immediately releasing them back to play so they learn a recall is never a punishment and you get to use the request when you need it. To train this, call the dog using their name and a request like “Come.” This would sound like “Daisy! Come!” Use a happy and excited tone and try clapping your hands and backing away from your dog while facing them to get them to follow. Do use a treat and make sure when the dog reaches you to reward them with the treat and a “Good Come!” so they know they have done what you want. Immediately release the dog with a “Go Play!” or “OK!” and ask for the recall again. (Never, ever use this request to place a dog in a place of confinement such as a crate or a closed off room.)

-Practice the recalls and releases at home and in the dog park. This is perfect to do without other dogs initially and with a partner so you can take turns calling the dogs and releasing them. Once you have a few sessions of your practice recalls and releases down, try them out in the dog park with other dogs around. Do not exceed 3 recalls and releases initially. Once you have this down, even if everyone is playing well, make sure and practice it at least once or twice during a park visit so it stays relevant.﻿

Learn to offer a correction or redirection with a calm neutral tone, fluid timing and reward the response.In a scenario where you do not like what is happening in the dog park use your recall and redirect the energy with throwing a ball or a stick. Have an overly boisterous mounter (humper) and the other dog looks ready to lunge in response? ﻿Refocus the energy on interacting towards something else beside the other dog. We can never just call a dog away from something and expect them to forget what it is that has gotten them so excited; we have to provide a distraction that just is as exciting. An in the moment “uh uh” followed by a “Good Dog!” when you’ve been listened to followed by calling the mounter’s name tossing a ball for redirection is a skill worth it’s weight in gold.

﻿After some time at some thing else, let them go back to each other﻿﻿. ﻿Remember the rule of thumb with separating dogs at play; if you separate two dogs and the “victim” dog follows the “bully” dog for more play afterwards, you have just broken up a perfectly good play session. Learn from it.

In the dog park continue to reinforce the behavior you want. If the energy starts to shift allow for time for the dogs to sort it out on their own, this is best followed with two dogs, with two dogs overly threatening one other dog, interrupting sooner rather than later is safer.﻿

Get over "humping." First, the correct terminology is "mounting" mostly because this behavior which may look sexual is not (actual reproductive mounting has a different pattern of behavior). Mounting is an attention getting behavior that a frustrated or bored dog engages in. Dogs tend to play in pairs and mounting is usually seen when a third dog wants to join in and is ignored. Work on redirecting the energy of the mounter by engaging them in something else such as running after a ball, a tug of war, etc. (See more on this here.)

Know when to break up an interaction: Use your words first employing a calm and neutral tone. Make sure you are close to the dogs you are addressing and not shouting or calling over a distance. Never yell at the dogs as this will increase arousal not lessen it. Call each dog by name and follow by a specific redirection. Never put your hands in between two dogs but do employ body blocking if you need to get in the middle of dogs and know that your legs are the strongest part of your body. Should you see a dog biting or breaking the skin of another dog or threatening behavior that is not provoked such as pinning or standing over another dog while vocalizing or if a dog displays serious warnings or threats towards a human such as snarling with bared lips, growling, aggressive bark, snapping or biting- the dog should be removed from the situation immediately. (For more on breaking up a dog fight see here).

Know that most of what we do not intervene in will be resolved without us. It’s a complicated determination that gets easier the more we know. Remember, as owners we never want to train out a warning, the old saying of not training out a growl is an important one to remember. We want our dogs to be able to offer that warning growl instead of learning that they cannot exhibit this and having to go right for the bite instead. Trainer, Aimee Sadler in advocating group play for shelter dogs, offers excellent advice on the danger of “punishing the thought” as opposed to the actual behavior:

“Don’t focus on the minutia of body language. None of these signals tells us very much on their own. Try to take in the whole picture in order to best read the dogs in front of you. Allow dogs to communicate with one another. What is the other dog doing in response to those communication signals? Do not act right away if you spot signs of tension and stress. Do not “punish the thought”, by correcting these communication signals. Always wait until there is an actual behavior that needs correcting.

Remember: the goal of play groups is for dogs to learn how to communicate with one another appropriately, which may sometimes include brief arguments, in order to establish themselves with one another. We do not dictate dogs’ relationships with one another (the dogs decide who they like or do not like), but we do monitor their behavior, stepping in only when necessary.”

The more you know about dog behavior and the more your dog can experience positive interactions and get through minor quarrels with other dogs is the best way for your dog to learn how well with others and for you to enjoy it too.﻿

Sadler, A. (2014) Dogs Playing for Life. Retrived from http://dogsplayingforlife.com/dpfl-manual/﻿

fPat Murray

Both the boxer and the daschund are telling each other they want to play.

"we need to be able to tell the difference between warnings, threats and aggression. We tend to overuse “aggression,” especially when talking about animals, to the point where the word has become a catchall for every behavior we may think is negative or are not comfortable with. This sort of thinking can lead owners to over react as a result." ﻿

Stewart Black

Dogs are oral and use their mouths for all kinds of things including play. The Dalmatian's play bow is easy for us to see.

fPat Murray

The boxer may look "worried" to us but allowing these dogs to interact with our neutral reaction is the best approach.

Eric Sonstroem﻿

Loose and relaxed faces and interactions are easy to read but dogs do more in play too.

Having one dog restrained and the other loose is never a good idea. Notice the tension and ear position of the tethered dog.

Crystal Rolfe

Make sure to remove all devices of restraint so dogs can play along with head halters which inibit behavior and can compromise breathing.

copyright Frania Shelley-Grielen

Copyright Frania Shelley-Grielen

Dogs play in pairs ("dyads") even when other dogs want to be a part of it.

"This key point in learning about how dogs came to be dogs is to understand that much of dog behavior is in response to human behavior and how that translates to what we influence when they are living in our homes, walking by our sides or at the dog park with us. " ﻿

copyright Frania Shelley-Grielen

"Most squabbles in dog parks occur at the fenced entrances where entering dogs attract the attention of the dogs in the park. Multiple dogs lining up at a fence creates a confined space where excited bids for attention and exploration are easily intensified. Walking immediately to the center of the park allows for a full use of the space to both explore and retreat." ﻿

﻿copyright Frania Shelley-Grielen

"Having company over and that includes their dog? Meet your guests with your dog on the corner and walk together to your home. Dogs do not equate territory with just your house or apartment, the street and sidewalk are part of what “belongs.” Meeting on neutral ground and going to your home together removes the “intruder” tension. Bringing treats with you to reinforce the neutral behavior for all dogs never hurts –make sure to have each owner treat their own dog. Allow for butt sniffing, particularly as walking, this sort of linear introduction is highly effective".﻿﻿

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Like an individual consultation? Contact us- we look forward to hearing from you.﻿﻿﻿